Buy Logitech MX Master 4 on Amazon
Buy Logitech MX Master 4 MAC Model on Amazon
Please note that some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links where I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Intro
Hey, it’s Adrian and the brand new Logitech MXM 4 mouse is finally out. I’ve been patiently waiting just like a lot of you because it’s been almost 3 years since the release of the MX3S mouse. Now, they’ve made some great changes in some areas, but a lot of things have also not changed. So, is it actually worth the upgrade if you already own the MX3S? Well, let’s take a closer look and find out. In the box, we
Package Contents
have the Logitech MXM for quick start guide and documentation and USBC Logi
What’s Changed?
Bolt. So, what’s really changed from the MXM 4 to the MXM 3S, which I have here? Well, one of the changes is that the wheel is actually supposed to be a smoother transition when switching from the ratchet mode to the free spinning mode. The other change is that the Logi Bolt receiver is now a USBC connector instead of a USB typeA connector. Logitech also claims two times more robust connection strength in crowded RF environments. The claim to fame is the new haptic functionality with limited support for certain software, an action ring overlay that you could see on the screen, which isn’t unique to the MX4. I’ll get into that later. There’s also an additional button added, and some of the exterior materials have changed, so it has less of that soft touch coating.
But let’s take a closer look at the
Design
design. Now, the MXM 4 mouse is coming in at around 9 g heavier when compared to the MX3. I have the pale gray version of the MXM 4, but it also comes in graphite and black as well. Now, if we take a side view and I compared that to the MXM 3S, you could see that it’s just slightly more elongated when comparing both of these by maybe a few millimeters. Now, notice on the MXM 3S, I do have discoloration right here where my thumb would always sit. This is something a lot of people had complaints about due to the soft touch coating that was used on this and on the MX3.
And that’s been kind of rectified on the MX4 because we do have silicone grips on the sides here and then we have kind of a hard plastic at the back here where previously this was that kind of soft touch coating that was, you know, really prone to getting discolored. So longterm, you know, hopefully this holds up better. And due to the slight elongation, this is going to be better if you found the MX3S or MX3 a little bit small for your hands. Now, if I just rest my hands on there, you could see it’s a pretty good grip that I have on here. Fairly ergonomic, not really much in the way of gaps around the mouse. And if you look at where my fingers rest, kind of a top down view, I still have a lot more room to go.
If I had longer fingers, and my middle finger is still resting nicely on the other button. So, yeah, overall, in terms of grip and hand, it actually feels good so far. If I contrast that to the MXM 3S, you could see still the same nice grip and curvature. Now, my thumb is almost at the end here. And if we do a top down view, you can see my middle finger is actually extending slightly above where the button ends. So, yeah, definitely if you have larger hands, you’ll like the MXM 4. Coming back to the MXM 4, you can see my thumb actually doesn’t extend past here. So, you know, it feels pretty comfortable. And you’ll notice that we now have one new button added here, whereas on the 3S, we only have two buttons, front and back. So, you do have an additional button that you can remap.
And then we also have this kind of haptic area. And you can see it does have a texture here. So, it adds, you know, a little bit more grip. Now, one thing I did like on the 3S is we kind of have these angled uh rich lines going across here, which makes it look kind of cool. I do kind of miss that not being on the MX4. Note, when I press the button here, you can probably hear that’s an audible click. And you know, it’s immediately apparent you’ve pressed it. However, on the MX4, when you press down, you can see the entire area is shifting, but you’re not really hearing an audible click. So, that’s something I don’t really like. The LED indicator light has now been moved to the top of the MX4. And on the MX3S, that light was on the side here.
The horizontal scroll wheel is also longer on the MX4 compared to the MX3S. Again, if you have larger hands, you’re going to like that. I also noticed that the horizontal scroll wheel is less tension or less friction. So, it’s really easy to just go ahead and rotate that. However, on the MX3S, it has a little bit higher of a tensioning or resistance. And I actually do prefer the feel on the 3S compared to the looser feel on the 4. The side of the MX4 also has a texture type of feel. So, it does improve griability and it actually feels good on the finger. And if I do a side view with the MX3S, you can see just how discolored that is on the side. So, yeah, I’m really glad they’ve switched the material out on her. Note that the mouse buttons are not held in a frame like they are on the MX3S.
So, this actually looks a little bit cleaner to me. The front has the USB type-C port, which is what we’re going to use to just top this back up anytime the battery goes down. And you can also store the USBC logbolt receiver right in the front here as well. The buttons on the MX4 also have this kind of frosted or matte type of look to them. And on the MX3S, it were just a solid color. I also like that the Logi logo just kind of blends in with the background of the mouse compared to on the 3S where it’s very prominent. Also note that the button length on the MX4 is shorter than on the 3S. Now, this generally won’t be an issue if you hold your mouse like this.
You can see it’s easy to click, but if you were to use something more like a claw grip when you’re using your mouse, it doesn’t extend far back as on the MX3S. So, just something to keep in mind. The max speed scroll wheel definitely flicks way more effortlessly, and it’s a more smooth and fluid type of experience, and it actually generates less noise while doing so. The max speed scroll wheel on the MX3S is still perfectly usable, but it’s just a little bit louder than on the MX4. Of course, you can also click in the scroll wheel as a button. And it does seem that the click is louder on the MX4 than on the MX3S. Switching these spin modes is also a little bit quieter on the MX3S.
The bottom of the mouse has the power button which has been moved to the side compared to on the 3S where it was at the very top of the mouse. We also have the same type of device switching button. And then we also have larger feet at the bottom of the mouse compared to on the 3S. Now, one thing I noticed is that they’ve added one of these feet around the sensor which was not on the 3S. And we also have exposed screws on the bottom of the mouse now, which were not present on the 3S. So, this will be easier to open up. Also note that where the button is on the 4, I can actually go ahead and kind of pry this up because it’s not held in place by any type of frame.
The MX3S also has the same type of issue where it can be lifted up, but it just seems a little bit easier for something to kind of get snagged under this button on the MX4 compared to on the 3S. I’m only pointing this out because if you travel often and you kind of just pack your mouse in your laptop bag or whatever, you’re probably going to want to put it in some kind of container so this doesn’t get snagged on clothes or a wire or something like
Ergonomics
that. In terms of hand feel and ergonomics, both mice feel really good. The curvature of them really suit my hand well. But I did notice one thing that’s a little bit better on the MX3S. So, as much as I hate the soft touch coating on here, when I put my hand on here, it’s planted and very grippy. The mouse is not going anywhere. However, if I do the same thing on the MX4, the mouse has a tendency to just kind of slide forward a bit because as I put my, you know, kind of palm pressure on the curvature here, because it’s not the soft touch coating and it’s this kind of smooth hard plastic, the mouse just kind of sometimes will go forward a little bit. So, I just had have to adjust my grip to, you know, more like this. So, as soon as I grab onto it, it has less of a tendency to slide away.
Even though they’ve added a type of dimpling pattern on the hard plastic to help with grip and maybe, you know, breathability, it’s nowhere as grippy as on the MX3S. And I’m not saying I want the soft touch coding to return and it’s made my MX3S look horrible. But just something to keep in mind with the hard plastic. You know, if there was a way they could have added, you know, maybe angled silicone side strips like kind of like how we have this kind of angled ridges on the 3S, maybe that would have been the best of both worlds. And it is definitely noticeable that the MX4 is heavier when I’m kind of grabbing it and moving it around compared to the MX3S. But, you know, I kind of do not mind having a little bit of heft to my mouth. So, this is not a dealbreaker for me.
So, while the curvature is slightly different on the MX4, I still find it just as comfortable as on the MX3S. But yeah, let me know what you guys think of the design changes on the MX4 and if you prefer it over the MX3S or if you still prefer the look of the MX3S. I 100%
Click Noise Test
prefer the sound of silent clicks. So, I really liked when it was implemented on the 3S. Now, they’ve actually improved that on the 4, so it sounds even quieter and it sounds less hollow. So, it just sounds better to me. However, that in no way affects the tactility when you press the mouse button on either of these mice, you know you’ve pressed it. Here’s a demo of what the click sounds like between the mice.
Tracking
The tracking is fantastic on the MX4, same as on the MX3S, even on glass. If
Software
we jump into the Logi option software and I click into the MX4. So, there’s a whole bunch of options for every element on here. So, for example, if I tap on the middle button, you can just have it act as a middle button. And you have all of these other options here. You can see pretty much anything you want to do, you can do on here. Same with the shift wheel mode. You know, if you know you always like it in the kind of free spin mode, you can remap this to do anything else that you like. But what’s more important here is the new added button, the gesture right here. You can see there’s some preset stuff. So, there’s one for virtual desktops, but you have like media controls, etc.
But if I leave it on virtual desktops, it’s showing if I hold this and then I do uh mouse up, it’s going to bring up the start menu, which you just saw there. And then if I hold it and do mouse down, it’s just going to go ahead and hide the desktop. Look at the actions ring. Now, this says new. And don’t be fooled. This is not only applicable to the MX4. You can do this on the uh MX3S as well. But if I go into configure action ring, this is where you can set up kind of custom things that you could do in each software. So right now I can do that for Da Vinci Resolve, um, Illustrator, Photoshop, Zoom, etc. Now, if I jump under the general profile here, this is what you’re going to have by default. You can click into any of these, remove these actions, and add new actions.
And if you hate just kind of, you know, rotating the mouse to the bottom, pressing that button to switch between devices, I’ve actually mapped it so I can switch to my first device, my folding phone, instead of having to flip the mouse over. Now, you could jump into the marketplace and you could see these are all of the different apps. So, you can sort it by, you know, whether it’s Windows, um, Mac, or you could just go under audio, creativity, um, lighting, etc. Now, if you want to look at apps that specifically can take advantage of the haptic feature, um, let’s just do all, you can see there’s only three currently that will respond to haptic functionality. So, you know, this has a long way to go if you’re really buying this mouse for the haptic features.
Let’s take a look at the smart actions ring. So, if I go ahead and tap it right in the corner here, you can see it’s going to bring up this overlay. And as I mouse over each of the different elements here, the mouse is actually vibrating due to the haptic feature. But for example, under change text size, you could see I could use the horizontal scroll wheel to increase the text size or the vertical scroll wheel as well. Both of them will do these for you. Again, you can do this on the MX3S. You do not have to get the MX4 to do this type of stuff. Now, we can also go under haptic feedback. You can see if I tap into this, I’m going to get more options. So, right now it’s set to subtle. Um, but you could change it to high. And it is really high. The vibration is a lot.
And it does say, hey, stronger vibration consumes more battery power, of course. Now, don’t be fooled. It is also consuming battery even on subtle. And you can turn this off completely if you don’t want to use this. But again, if you turn this off, then why are you really getting the MX4? Because the smart rings features on the MX3S. You can also change the button press sensitivity of this area. So, I have it on light. That’s been working well for me. I haven’t had any type of accidental presses, but you can switch it to medium, hard, or firm, which does require quite a bit of force. Let’s talk
Haptics
about the haptic experience because that’s kind of the claim to fame and one of the reasons to upgrade to the MX4. And I really do not like the haptics feature. Even setting it to the lowest intensity, I found it to be distracting. The reason why is while I’m working like whether it’s in Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. I’m seeing what I’m doing on the screen. I don’t need the mouse to give me secondary feedback or to vibrate in my hand that hey, I’m doing something and I’m seeing in real time on the screen. Even my cell phone, I turn the haptics off. Like while I’m typing, I don’t want vibrations. I’m navigating around. I don’t need vibrations. I’m looking at my screen. I’m not doing this blind or with my eyes closed. So, I just find it to be distracting.
The other thing is this is going to tax the battery life, you know, quicker. So, yeah, maybe you’re a fan of haptics. I really didn’t find that it added anything to the experience except being
What’s Unchanged?
distracting to me. All right, let’s talk about what has not changed. So, the MXM 4 still has a polling rate of 125 Hz, which is really weak in 2025. You know, a lot of people have been asking for higher polling rates since the MX3S, and Logitech has still not listened. Um, I don’t even think they should call this the MX Master 4. This should be like the MX Apprentice until it can actually rank up to higher than 125 Hz. The other thing is that you can’t actually connect a USBC wire on here and use that as a wired input. All that does is charge the mouse. So, it’s already connected to the USB port, but it won’t let you actually use it as an input. Like, how much sense does that make? And what if you’re someone who uses a ton of devices? Like, I have three phones, a laptop, a desktop.
What if I just wanted to use wired on one device or a device that doesn’t even have Bluetooth? So, I could save the other input options like the Logbolt and the Bluetooth for other devices. Well, you can’t do that with this mouse. Also, if you had wired mode on here, you’d have zero latency if you had any type of interference around you. Now, they are saying they’ve improved that with the wireless connectivity. Still, there’s also no onboard memory on the mouse. You can’t just download the Logitech software, configure the mouse exactly how you want, then go ahead and pair it on another laptop or another device because there’s no onboard memory. You need the Logitech option software to be running in the background to get full functionality.
Now, where this is problematic is if you just want to take this to work. Say you configured it at home, you want to take it to work because your work IT policy says you cannot install software for security purposes. you’re really getting a dumbed down mouse experience because a lot of the features and functionality on it are tied to the Logitech software. Here’s a
Specs
quick look at the specs, feel free to pause and review or jump ahead to the
Worth The Upgrade?
next section. So, is the MXM 4 actually worth the upgrade? If you already own the MX3S or even the MX3? Well, if you disagree with a lot of the points I’ve made, it’s worth the upgrade for you already. If you have slightly larger hands, this is going to be worth the upgrade. I mean, my hand fits great on both of these, but yeah, if you have larger hands, you have more kind of surface area to rest your hand on. The other thing is, if you hate what the soft touch coating has done to your mice, similar to what has happened on my 3 and 3s with, you know, the color change and just the material deterioration over time, this is definitely worth the upgrade. You won’t have to be cleaning it all the time.
If you want the haptic experience at the expense of slightly lower battery life, it’s also worth the upgrade. And if you also experience kind of wireless interference with your 3S or 3, then yeah, it’s probably going to be worth the upgrade as well. But here’s why I’m not going to be upgrading to the MX4. And maybe some of you feel the same as well. This still has 125 Hz polling rate in 2025, which is pretty pathetic given the price of this mouse. There’s no wired mode, so that’s one less input. There’s also no onboard memory, meaning you need to have the Logitech option software on every device that you want to use this on and get full functionality out of it.
So, while there were some things that I did like on here, like the kind of softer clicks on here, the smoother scroll wheel, which is also quieter as well, the addition of an extra button, which can be remapped for whatever you want, those are not enough changes for me to give up the 3S. The 3S is a solid mouse, still quiet, and it’s still serving me perfectly well. I don’t need any type of improved tracking. It’s already done that. I don’t have any type of signal interference issues. It’s really not worth paying $120 really to have kind of haptic functionality. I still have the smart ring or you know those kind of ring actions on the 3S through the software. But what do you think? Will you be getting the 4, especially if you already own the 3S?
I’m curious to hear if you’re interested in picking up the MX4. I’ll leave links down below for you to get your very own. I can see some of you wanting to get it just because of the material change and not having to clean this all the time. If you found this video helpful, would you mind liking and subscribing? It truly does help me out. I’m always creating these type of tech accessories and just general tech reviews in general. Maybe you’ll like this video next and maybe also consider checking out some of my other tech reviews outside of just, you know, kind of mice and keyboard. I also review headphones, earbuds, monitors, portable monitors. Really something for everyone. I really hope you’ll join me in my next video
Buy Logitech MX Master 4 on Amazon
Buy Logitech MX Master 4 MAC Model on Amazon
Please note that some of the links in my video descriptions are affiliate links where I earn from qualifying purchases. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
